


Cherish

by SeraphHT



Category: Call of Duty (Video Games)
Genre: BTW i swear this is mostly gen, Denial, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Gen, Humor, M/M, Memories, Prompt Fill, basically just keegan recalling every embarrassing moment logan had with him, because logan pretends to not know lol, everybody's laughing, idk if this even counts as crack idk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:15:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24101968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeraphHT/pseuds/SeraphHT
Summary: (A fill for the kinkmeme) Prompt: Logan is eleven and is totally convinced that he's in love with one of the Ghosts. He trails after them like a lost puppy, and the Ghost is both amused and sorta flattered. Logan takes the time to cuddle with them and chatter about nothing, it's cute as hell and Elias snickers quietly to himself at his friend's expense.Of course, years later, Logan denies any memory of this (but he still thinks they're hot).
Relationships: Keegan P. Russ/Logan Walker
Comments: 12
Kudos: 35





	Cherish

**Author's Note:**

> I had fun writing this. The prompt was absolutely adorable and I couldn't stop myself.

Keegan was on leave and safely tucked in a civilian home. By all rights, he should be sleeping like a log right now. But old habits die hard.

The sound of movement downstairs was subtle. It took trained senses to detect something like that. He glanced at the digital clock nearby. Three hours until sunrise. Who would still be awake this late at night?

It was probably just another person in the household, but something about not investigating the noise just didn’t sit right with him. He left the room and approached the kitchen, where occasionally on his short journey from the bedroom, he heard the noises come from.

Finally reaching the entrance, he was surprised to see Logan standing on his toes, one hand stretched as far as he could go towards the upper cabinet.

“Logan?”

The little boy jumped, obviously startled. Keegan observed his surroundings. The fridge was half-open, allowing white light to pour into the otherwise dark kitchen. The upper cabinet Logan was reaching for had three tiers, with all tiers housing plates and cups. A carton of milk was on the small round table to the side.

Upon seeing who it was, Logan’s scared expression melted into that of relief. “Uncle Keegan,” he said quietly, “you scared me.”

Keegan couldn’t help but give a small smile as he went up the boy and ruffled his hair. “Sorry about that, kid,” he replied, then glanced pointedly at the cabinet. “Need help with something?”

“Yeah, I can’t reach for my favourite mug,” Logan complained, pointing at the blue mug at the top tier. “I don’t know why Mom put it up there. As if she wants to remind me that I’m not tall enough.”

Keegan chuckled as he took said mug from its place and handed it to the boy. “I’m sure she doesn’t mean that. Your time will come, kid. One day you’ll be as tall as me.”

“Really?”

Keegan looked down. Those big brown eyes were absolutely adorable.

“Yeah, kid, really,” he smiled.

“You promise?”

“I promise, but you’ll have to work hard for it like I did,” Keegan grinned a little. “You’ll be hard-working like me, won’t you?”

“Yeah, I wanna be just like Uncle Keegan!” Logan grinned, then pouted. “Wait, did I make too much noise just now? Is that why you woke up?”

“No, it’s not your fault,” Keegan looked around. “This time of night is just… I’ve gotten too used to picking out small sounds in my environment.”

“Wow,” Logan sounded awed. “You’re so alert! Like the Ghosts. Dad told me about them.”

“Yeah, I’m almost as good as them,” Keegan said, amused. He felt bad for not telling him the truth about the Ghosts’ existence, but he figured if Elias didn’t tell his child, why should he? “I promise the bad guys won’t get me. Or would you prefer they get me?”

“No!” Logan frowned and shook his head to punctuate his disagreement. He looked as though he was about to cry. “No, I don’t want them to get you.”

“Hey hey, kid…” Keegan felt a surge of panic at the tears gathering in the boy’s eyes. He carefully patted his cheek and gave a reassuring smile. “I promise they won’t get me. Who else is gonna help you reach for your mug?”

The small joke made Logan laugh a little, then he wiped the tears away before glancing pointedly at the carton of milk. “Can you please stay with me while I eat some biscuits?” he asked, voice so full of hope that it was impossible for the other to say no.

Keegan took a mug for his own and joined the boy at the table. “Are you scared?” he queried as they sat down.

“I was a little scared just now,” Logan admitted as he poured out the milk. Then his eyes met Keegan’s, and he grinned “But now that you’re here, I know for sure nothing is gonna get me.”

The response surprised Keegan. It wasn’t what he expected. He took a small sip of the milk, eyes observing the little boy, a warm feeling crowding his chest.

The innocent honesty of a child. Who knew what other blessings in this world he had yet to experience.

“Yeah kid, I’ll keep you safe,” he said, quietly.

“I know I can depend on you, Uncle Keegan,” Logan flashed another one of his adorable smiles, before reaching into a jar and pulling out a biscuit. “Do you want a cookie?”

* * *

Logan’s face was expressionless. “I am pretty sure that _never_ happened.”

However, Elias and Merrick sniggering at the side of the room was additional proof of the contrary.

The look on Keegan’s face was almost sly. “Don’t pretend you don’t remember, kid.”

Logan scratched his chin, the small frown almost as though he was trying too hard to suppress the shyness in his voice. “Like, come on. Why were you even in my house?”

“There were several times Elias let us stay over when we were on leave.”

“Besides, that story is real,” Elias chimed in, still grinning. “You were beaming over breakfast of how ‘Uncle Keegan’ snuck up on you like a real ghost and how he promised that one day you’d be as tall as him.”

“Yeah, and look at you now,” Merrick added. “You pretty much stand eye-to-eye with him.”

“Just like he promised,” Elias snickered.

“Yeah, just like I promised,” Keegan chuckled and shook his head, one edge of his lips curling upwards into a half-smile as his eyes went back to Logan. “Not bad, kid. You did good on your word to work hard for it.”

“It’s called genetics,” Logan mumbled, embarrassed at how much his father and Merrick were enjoying themselves. “I’m gonna leave now before you guys start whipping up more stories.”

“Hold on just a second,” Keegan held out a hand, stopping the blond from leaving. “There’s more where that came from.”

* * *

“Logan?” Keegan called as soon as he saw him. “What are you doing?”

The blond had been in the middle of pushing an armchair with all his strength. It seemed he had successfully relocated some chairs from the dining room into the living room as well, and some of the sofas had been rearranged. It was pretty blatant now where all those heavy, scraping, dragging sounds came from.

Logan’s face lit up as soon as he saw him. “I’m building my own fort!”

Keegan didn’t understand at first. “What do you mean?”

“A blanket fort, silly.”

“Where are all the blankets?”

“Over there,” Logan pointed to a pile of thick sheets on the floor that previously were unnoticed. Then he said, “I’m building this fort so Hesh and I can play when he gets back home with Mom and Dad.”

“Well, that’s… ambitious,” Keegan commented. That was a damn lot of sheets. He could only imagine Logan collecting them from every bedroom in the house. It was a wonder he didn’t trip down the stairs while carrying them, too. “Do you plan on making this fort really big?”

“Yeah, I’m gonna make it the biggest fort in the whole world!” Logan claimed excitedly, but then frowned a little. “I’ll just have to figure out a way to pile the blankets without making them fall over me.”

With that, Logan resumed work. It was obviously taking a lot of effort for him to push all the furniture around, because he was already panting and starting to sweat. Keegan assessed the area.

“Let me help you,” Keegan said as he approached, and with one push, effectively moved the armchair into its place. “Two heads are better than one.”

“I wish I was as strong as you, Uncle Keegan,” Logan pouted.

“What do you mean, kid?” Keegan chuckled. “You _are_ as strong as me. Look at the work you did so far. Pretty soon even the Ghosts would come around looking for your skills.”

“The Ghosts?” Logan’s pupils dilated, like a cat’s. “Wow! I wanna be a Ghost.”

“Keep up the good work and I’m sure you’ll get an offer,” Keegan winked, complete with a small smirk. Logan seemed to be a little lost in thought as the other got to work on moving around the furniture to ensure support for their little fort. Within minutes, everything was ready to lay out the blankets.

With Logan’s help, Keegan stretched the blankets taut over the furniture, layering them over and ensuring each blanket was supported enough as to not fall. He spared some sheets to lay over the floor inside the fort itself. Before long, they were done. Their fort was as large as he could make it using all the furniture Logan thought useful.

“Wow, you’re even better than Dad at making forts!” Logan beamed.

“That’s only because I had a little help,” Keegan ruffled the blond’s hair, which made the boy a little shy. How cute.

The fort even had a flap that served as an entrance. Pushing it open, Logan peered in. “It’s so dark,” he frowned, then gasped. “Oh, I have an idea!”

He skittered up the stairs. Keegan chuckled to himself and took another look at the fort. He wondered what Elias and Julie would think of their son making a makeshift tent that spanned the size of their living room.

Logan returned with some fairy lights, several pillows and soft bolsters. “Uncle Keegan, I decided I don’t wanna use this fort to play with Hesh anymore,” he said as he dropped all said items to the floor. Then, he grinned up at him. “Let’s have a sleepover tonight here in this fort.”

Keegan was quiet for a while as he imagined Elias kicking his ass for stealing everybody’s sheets for the night. Then again, Julie was such a kind host and he was sure she had some backup blankets in storage. Bending down, he took the fairy lights and pillows.

“What are you waiting for? Let’s get setting up.”

“Yay!” Logan cheered, excitedly picking up as many bolsters as he could before rushing inside the fort. “I’ll show you my favourite movie! I think I can borrow Mom’s laptop. And snacks! We have popcorn.”

Keegan had to crouch to get into the fort, and be even more careful as he was setting up in there. His broad build was of no help in the tight spaces of their delicate tent. As Logan continued yapping on about how much fun they were going to have, Keegan couldn’t help the warm feeling of amusement. This boy was so endearing.

Later that night, Keegan found himself lying prone, a bowl of popcorn in front of his face as the laptop screen played a movie seamlessly. The fairy lights were not so dim. The bolsters and pillows were pretty soft, too.

Logan had been commenting throughout the movie, but now that it had been a while since he last spoke, Keegan turned to look at him. To his surprise (or, perhaps, he shouldn’t be), Logan was fast asleep, lying prone as well, his banana plushie named Mr. Squishy cradled to support his head. Keegan smiled at the sight, then turned off the laptop and set the fairy lights to a dimmer setting.

He moved Logan, so he would be lying on his back and his neck wouldn’t hurt. Then Keegan settled in for the night himself. He stared up at the ceiling of their soft little fortress.

This was the first time in his life being in a blanket fort, and some part of him wished it wouldn’t be his last.

* * *

Logan’s face was a whole shade of pink. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.”

Merrick laughed. “Hey, I remember this! I think Rorke even took a picture of you two because you guys woke up late for breakfast. Maybe the picture is still somewhere in our memory storage.”

“Don’t even search for it, man,” Logan muttered, putting a hand over his face to hide the blush. “I don’t know what you drank this morning to have your imagination running so wild, Keegan.”

“I’m offended you don’t remember that, kid,” Keegan almost smirked, his voice laced with amusement. “I do.”

“Well, I think I would _remember_ if I slept next to somebody you claim I look up to so much,” Logan defended.

“It’s real, alright,” Hesh suddenly said, folding his arms. Logan felt disoriented for a moment as he did not even notice his older brother enter the rec room. “I remember because I was so pissed at Logan for not letting me into his fort.”

“That wasn’t the only reason you were mad, though,” Keegan remarked. “Remember that talk you had with me about him?”

Hesh laughed, almost self-consciously. “Yeah, I remember. How embarrassing.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Logan looked from one to the other.

“It’s funny, really,” Keegan chuckled, looking down as he recalled.

* * *

There was a huge thunderstorm raging outside. Keegan wasn’t sure he had ever seen weather like this on this part of the country. The sky was dark and the wind was howling. It may have been noon, but it didn’t look like noon out there.

The thunder had kicked out the electricity. Elias helped his wife set up some candles around the home and almost everybody was in their respective bedrooms to wait comfortably through the storm.

Not Keegan, though. He was on the sofa in the living room, seated near a candle to get enough light to read a book. He must have been reading for about ten minutes when he heard footsteps approaching him. Looking up, he could see Logan in the faint candlelight.

“I’m scared,” Logan said quietly, his blanket over his shoulder.

Keegan smiled. The boy must have been afraid of being in his room alone. “Hey, nothing to worry about, Uncle Keegan is here, remember?” he reassured, patting the spot next to him. “Come here, I’ll protect you.”

Logan shifted over to sit next to him. “What are you reading?”

“Just a boring little book,” Keegan waved it off, closing the novel and putting it aside. Just as he did, lightning speared across the sky, followed by crashing thunder. Logan squealed and hid under his blanket, burrowed into Keegan’s side like he was trying to crawl into him.

“Aw, hey,” Keegan soothed, putting an arm over him and patting his shoulder. He was smiling wide. “It’s alright to be scared of the thunder.”

Logan pulled the blanket a bit from his face to look up at Keegan with his big, round eyes. Keegan ran his fingers through the pale hair. “I used to be scared of thunder, too,” he said.

“Really?” Logan asked, voice still a little frightened.

“Yeah, really,” Keegan replied softly. “We learn that it can never really hurt us, and we’re stronger than that. Then we don’t have to be afraid anymore.”

“Usually, if I’m scared, Hesh is there with me,” Logan mumbled, “but now Mom and Dad gave him another room since he just turned thirteen. I’m scared to be alone.”

“It’s okay, you’re not alone.”

Logan did not respond, instead kept looking at him. This prompted Keegan to lightly pinch his cheek. He was rewarded with another irresistibly cute smile.

They sat in silence, listening to the rain. Keegan eventually returned to reading his novel, periodically running his fingers through Logan’s hair. The young boy soon fell asleep on Keegan’s lap.

It must have been about 20 minutes later when Rorke came down the stairs to go to the kitchen. Upon seeing the sniper, he laughed.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that’s your child,” he commented. “This is strange, Keegan. You’re starting to go a little soft at last.”

“Not so loud,” the other almost hissed, annoyed. “You’re gonna wake him up.”

“Oh, okay, okay,” Rorke held his hands up in a mock-surrender fashion, walking towards the kitchen. “I didn’t mean to make the mother bear angry.”

Keegan rolled his eyes and resumed reading, periodically listening to the sounds of Rorke shuffling about. He had peace for about another ten minutes.

“Uncle Keegan, can we talk?”

Looking up from the novel, Keegan was surprised to see Hesh standing in front of him with a look of uncertainty on his face. He put the book away. “Of course, Hesh,” he said, motioning the armchair next to him. “What’s wrong?”

Hesh did not reply as he hopped into the chair. He kept his eyes on his sleeping brother, jaw tensing, as if thinking of what to say. Then, he inhaled deeply and met Keegan’s eyes. “Stop trying to steal Logan from me.”

It took a few moments for Keegan to understand what he said. “What?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know,” Hesh accused, folding his arms. His face was a mix of insecurity and crossed. “Every time you’re here, Logan doesn’t wanna hang out with me much. He’s always doing things with you. I don’t know what your plan is, but Logan is _my_ best friend.”

Keegan felt a little speechless. “Y-Yeah, of course he is.”

“Yeah, and you know that, so don’t get any funny ideas,” Hesh peered at him suspiciously. “I know Logan best, and I can keep him safer than anybody else in this whole world. Even better than Dad, too. But I know you’re making him think that _you_ can do a better job than me.” There was a slight quiet, then he continued, “Just because I’ve got my own bedroom now doesn’t mean I’m not there for him anymore.”

Keegan was silent for some time. He looked from the sleeping boy on his lap, to the one sitting on the armchair next to him. “I’m sure Logan looks up to you very much, Hesh. You’re his brother.”

“I know that,” Hesh snapped, almost annoyed. But his gaze softened when he looked at Logan. “I just wanna make sure Logan never forgets that, no matter how much he admires you.”

“…I’ll be sure to remind him that he can count on you,” Keegan almost laughed.

Satisfied, Hesh nodded (almost more to himself) then shuffled away back to his bedroom. Keegan watched him go, then Rorke reappeared, having apparently heard the whole commotion.

“Careful now,” he sang, voice all-too-obvious to tease. “You don’t want to get mixed up in some silly love triangle in the future, do you?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Keegan exhaled.

“With the way that boy crushes on you and the jealousy of his brother, I’d be extra wary,” Rorke snickered.

Keegan only shook his head and rolled his eyes as Rorke went back up the stairs. He looked back down at Logan, who was still sleeping so calmly and quietly. Carefully, he stood and lifted Logan up, quietly carrying him up the stairs and into the boy’s room. He tucked the blond into his bed, pulling the covers over him and Mr. Squishy. What a blessing to be so relaxed, he thought.

When that was done, Keegan sat down in a little chair near the bed, thinking. There was something good about making Logan feel safe. Keegan never did it on purpose, but it was satisfying to know that he had that effect. He liked it.

* * *

Now everybody in the room was laughing except for Logan.

“Are you still jealous of me?” Keegan jokingly asked Hesh.

“Logan still thinks you’re great, but I _know_ for a fact he thinks I’m awesome,” Hesh said in between chuckles, then glanced over at his brother. “Ain’t that right?”

“I am _convinced_ you’re all delusional,” Logan shook his head, fully aware of the heat in his cheeks. “I’m leaving now.”

“Yeah, you do that,” Elias smirked. “Keegan’s always around if you need a lap to sleep on.”

“Dad!” Logan groaned, putting a hand over his face. The room erupted in laughter once more. Between his fingers, Logan could see Keegan laughing as well, although not as hard as his father, brother or Merrick. Strange to see Keegan happy like that.

Logan got up and trudged out of the room, into his own personal quarters. He locked the door and sighed. Keegan’s got a great smile. Too bad he didn’t show it very often any more.

Logan forgot how much he missed it.

After a few minutes, he went to his desk and opened a locked drawer. Inside was a photo that nobody else knew he had.

A younger version of himself was inside, hugging his banana plushie like there was no tomorrow. He had to admit he was kind of cute when he was a kid. But even better was that Keegan was there too, deep asleep. Completely unaware, his mouth slightly open, which was so unlike the sniper now that Logan truly got to know him. Their blanket fortress was immortalized in this picture, taken by Rorke.

Logan smiled a little, keeping the picture back in its locked compartment. He may have been embarrassed as hell just now, but he was actually very flattered that Keegan still remembered him and the memories they had together, even after all those years.

**Author's Note:**

> Tbh I planned on linking this to another prompt I saw in the kinkmeme that I plan on filling, but that one is more.. mature. You know, after Logan's older and all that. But I'm still thinking about it, not sure whether I wanna do that. If I do, it'll probably a separate fic.
> 
> Thanks for reading, and do leave kudos!


End file.
